A wide area network service provides communication services that connect information systems for users including companies at distant locations such as cities. The information technology for corporate jobs has remarkably advanced in recent years. Various types of information are computerized and are exchanged between corporate locations through communication.
To satisfy the above-mentioned demand, there is an increasing trend to use wide-area Ethernet (registered trademark) easily connectable with user information systems at low costs or IP-VPN or other IP/Ethernet-based wide-area network services (e.g., see U.S. Pat. No. 7,307,990).
An IP/Ethernet-based wide-area network provides easy connectivity with user locations using a router apparatus (hereafter referred to as a router) based on IP as a network standard protocol and Ethernet technologies used for user information systems.
The 10 Gbps broadband transmission technology is used as an interface for connection between routers. The IP/Ethernet-based wide-area network can provide services at low costs while allowing users to share the broadband interface.
The IP/Ethernet-based wide-area network is configured as a physical network including core routers as a basis for the wide-area network and edge routers to connect user locations. The following description assumes the physical network to be a basic network for the wide-area network.
The edge router encapsulates a communication packet used for communication between user locations. A core network header is added to the communication packet and is used for communication in the core network. A router in the core network references the core network header to transfer a communication packet. Communication is available using the wide-area network without modifying an original communication packet from the user.
A user identification label for identifying a user is attached to the core network header in order to share the wide-area network among users. Routers in the core network and edge routers form a virtual private network for each user based on the user identification label in the core network header. The security is ensured in order to prevent confusion in communication packets exchanged between users.
Improvement of wide-area network services changes functions to be supplied and users' utilization forms.
The wide-area network services provide diversified types of communication protocols to be encapsulated during encapsulation of user communication packets and server and network functions separated for each of users.
The users' utilization forms now include communication between the data center of a service provider or a contents provider and a corporate user location in addition to the conventional communication between corporate user locations.